In a nutshell, there was sickness, playtime, a visit to the seaside, a week and a half at Grammie’s, shopping, a picnic, trips to the park, swimming, first tooth, first step…and a partridge in a pear tree.

Today, is the day before Little Bunny starts KINDERGARTEN! I’ve done my rite of passage doing battle with needle, thread, and name tapes (yes, people, I’ve sewed name tapes on every article of clothing, although I draw the line at socks) ….I’ve washed the various uniform components…personalized her lunch bag with a hand-painted design, looked and re-looked at the school supplies list…tried to commit the uniform rules to memory (white or grey undies only, no frills on ankle socks, hat must be worn whenever wearing blazer…) so…I’m ready.

NO I’M NOT!!

I am NOT ready for my darling little firstborn (yes, she’s still little…she’s only 4!) to go to ‘big school’. Full days, five days per week…full uniform, not just the relaxed nursery school version.

I’m not ready to say Goodbye and watch her go off in the sea of ‘big kids’. No, no, no!

So…of course, when she cried this morning and said ‘I’m crying about that I won’t see you again when I’m in school.” I told her how great school is and how much she loved it and that I’ll be right here waiting for her and I’ll be there to pick her up at the end of the day. I smiled and forced that ‘of course I’m happy’ tone…

Today was my beautiful little sweetheart’s last day of nursery school.

The week has been tough. She was sick on Monday and missed a day of school and the rest of the week, she was very moody. I wasn’t sure if it was because it was the last week of school or if she still didn’t feel well. My question was answered today.

I approached the doors of the nursery and could see her through the glass. She caught sight of me and I could see her little face drop. She looked close to tears. I tried to ignore it and fight back my own. She reluctantly came up to me and stuck out her hand. She was clutching a handful of her work and some parent handouts and I bent down to give her a cuddle. She pulled away quickly and I didn’t push it. I had brought my camera with me and I asked her if she wanted me to take some pictures of her with Mrs. S. She smiled and nodded and ran over to her teacher. I took a few shots, had a word to Mrs. S. and we took one last picture of her next to her coat hook. Mrs. S handed her her name tag from the coat hook and we said our last goodbyes. She slowly, reluctantly made it to the door and we left.

When we got home, she ran upstairs to change out of her uniform as usual. Chris and I were getting lunch together and after about 10 minutes, we realised she still hadn’t come down. We yelled up to her to come down. She came down with her uniform still on. Pleading to change into play-clothes ensued. She refused. She didn’t want to take off her uniform. We didn’t push it. At first she said that she didn’t want to eat lunch, but when we offered to let her wear her school apron, she agreed. We talked about the work she had brought home and the card that Mrs. S had made for her saying thank you for her gifts. She perked up and said “That means that Mrs. S is going to miss me too!” She was so pleased about that.

After lunch, the usual playing with her sisters….nothing new. A few tussles over toys and stern words from me or Daddy. During one of these tussles, she ran over to the sofa with Mrs. S’s card. She burst into tears and kept opening and closing the card. Every time she opened it again, she cried even harder. I gave her a hug and asked, “What’s wrong sweetheart?” The answer came between sobs- “I’m sad about that I won’t see Mrs. S anymore!” My poor little girl. My heart broke for her. I explained that we could stop in and see her when she went to kindergarten in September and all the exciting things that we would do over the summer in the mean time. She finally stopped crying and put the card down. More cuddles.

During naptime, I got together all the photos that the school had printed out during the year of M. doing activities. I put them in an album for her and when she woke up, gave it to her. Unfortunately I couldn’t print out the pictures of her and Mrs. S from today because we are having technical probs with our computer, but I explained that as soon as we get it fixed, I’ll put them in the album and she can look at it whenever she’s feeling sad. She carried that book around with her for the rest of the evening.

So here’s to my darling little sensitive girl, who started nursery as a 3 yr old baby and is now a ‘big girl’ at 4. She will go to kindergarten in the ‘big school’ in September. I can hardly believe it. Milestones reached! (but not without a few tears)

Now, don’t get me wrong…of course I love my beautiful daughters. Of course I am in wonder and awe at the achievements of their young lives.

However, there is another Me.

The Other Me likes getting dressed in nice ironed clothes that match, putting on makeup and doing things like having conversations in tones other than ‘cutesy wutesy’. The Other Me was lucky enough to find a wonderful man who married me and enjoys doing many of the things the Other Me likes doing. Some of these things include: reading, creative writing, cooking, listening to music, photography, studying/discussing theology, and doing various crafts. The Other Me is organised and would never be caught without her Filofax (the one she spent ages choosing to reflect her personality). The Other Me enjoys having dinner in restaurants and going to the movies. The Other Me loves to be able to soak in the atmosphere in church and pray quietly with her eyes closed. The Other Me can hold a conversation about current events which doesn’t include topics like ‘who pulled whose hair’ and ‘how much so-and-so ate today’. The Other Me is ON TIME!

Both me and the Other Me enjoy reading blogs and I have found myself saying a little too frequently, ‘Oh, that sounds interesting. I wish I could do that.’ One of these interesting things I came across on one of those blogs is a reading challenge. Specifically, a Bible reading challenge. I did a little searching around the dot com and there are several versions of the Bible Reading Challenge. Some give you a schedule of chapters to read. Some give you a time frame in which to read the bible.

The one that I have decided to do is: Read the bible for 30 minutes per day and see how long it takes to get through the entire book.

So, today starts my Bible Reading Challenge.

I will post my progress on here and any thoughts I encounter along the way.

If you would like to join me in this challenge, please let me know in the comments. It would be great to have others to share this with!

A few years ago there was a book that was very popular. It was called “All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum. The title was self-explanatory, it was a book about life lessons. I had one of those moments today with my lovely 4 yr. old. For the past few weeks, every day (and by that, I mean, SEVERAL times every day) she has been singing the following song she learned in nursery school:
Love is something if you give it away [clap, clap]
Give it away
Give it away
Love is something if you give it away [clap, clap]
You’ll end up having more
Love is like a magic penny
Hold it tight and you won’t have any
Lend it, spend it, and you will have many
They’ll roll all over the floor!

Love is something if you give it away [clap, clap]
Give it away
Give it away
Love is something if you give it away [clap, clap]
You’ll end up having more
As most of you know, DH has been ‘between jobs’ for the past few months. This has not been helped by an employer who promised him a tailor-made job and has now moved the goal-posts (but that’s a post for another time). Anyway, the point is…times are lean…although we have been blessed by various sources for our daily needs and we are truly grateful. I was in the shower (where, let’s face it, all my best thinking happens….possibly because with 3 children under 5 yrs old, it’s the only place I can actually hear myself thinking!) and I was humming this song under my breath (which usually causes me to shudder when I realise I’m doing it). However, this time, the second verse struck me- I sang it again, and had one of those lightbulb moments. It’s no good complaining about the injustice of the dishonest employers, or spending days thinking ‘if only I had this/that…’ the lesson to be learned is: if I want more, I have to give more.

So, today, when I get a few moments to think here and there, I’ll be thinking of ways I can share my wealth with others. Because, let’s be honest, compared to 90% of the world, I AM WEALTHY. And not only wealthy, but rich too..rich in mind and spirit.

Who would have thought my 4 yr old daughter would teach me that? Robert Fulghum, you were right!

This blog post is more than a little late, but on Sunday, 11th May 2008 our family joined the Orthodox Christian Church. The Orthodox Church is split into several jurisdictions, the two main ‘streams’ being Russian and Greek (others include Syrian, Armenian, Coptic, and Indian). Our church is under the Greek Patriarchate of Great Britain and Thyateira. The girls were baptised and Chris and I were chrismated (annointed with Holy Oil and confirmed) and became full members of the Church. It was a wonderful day and here are some pictures and explanation of the ceremony…

The Renunciation and the Acceptance – the child will be held by Godparent or Godparents (Nuno and Nuna in Greek) as he stands in the narthex of the church facing east (towards the altar). The priest, standing in front of them, blows three times into the child’s face in the form of the cross to drive away any evil spirits and adverse power and blesses him each time saying “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen”. He then places his hands on the child’s head, which symbolized the taking of possession of the candidate in the name of the Holy Trinity and recites a prayer addressed to the Triune God: “In your name, O God of truth..I lay my hand on your servant who has been found worthy to seek salvation in your Holy Name and protection under the shelter of your wings. Banish from him the old error, fill him with faith and hope in you..so that he might know that you are the only true God..Grant him the ability to live in accordance with your commandments.”

The Exorcisms – The prayer is followed by three exorcisms and yet another prayer, the prayer of acceptance, at the end of which the priest, in summary of all that was said before, asks God to drive out and banish from the child any and every evil and impure spirit which may be hiding and lurking in his heart and make him a reason-endowed sheep in the holy flock of Christ, an honourable member of the Church, child and heir of the kingdom. The child and Godparent will then be asked to face west and renounce Satan and all his works, and all his worship and all his angels, and all his pride in a question and answer form three times and then asked to breathe (instead of the old tradition of spitting) down on Satan. Facing west signifies the west, a place of natural darkness, where the Devil, who is darkness himself, makes his abode.

The Confession of Faith – Then the child and Godparent will face east again and affirmatively answer The Priest who will ask them (three times) if they have pledged their allegiance to Christ.

The Blessing of the Water – Now that the child is ready, they will enter the Church and the Priest will ask the Holy Spirit to come down and bless and consecrate the water in the font and make it an instrument of salvation.

The Blessing of the Oil and Anointing – Once the blessing of the water is complete, the Godparent will offer a small bottle of olive oil over which a prayer for the banishment of evil is read to make it “an anointing of incorruption, a weapon of justice, a renewal of soul and body, a defense against every influence of the Devil and a release from evil to all those who are anointed with it, or partake of it.” Some of this oil is then poured crosswise three times on the water in the font in order to render the consecration of the water complete. The child (now naked- although older children and adults usually wear a swimsuit or other suitable covering) will be anointed with the blessed oil on the forehead, nose, ears, mouth, chest, legs, feet, hands and back. The Godparent will then anoint the child, to prepare him, just as an athlete prepares, to battle the demon whom he has just renounced and to slip away from the grip of sin.

The Baptism – Now the child will be immersed in the font three times with prayers, and then handed to the Godparent who is waiting for him with a white sheet and towel.

The Sacrament of Chrism (Confirmation)

Now newly baptized, the child will be chrismated with Holy Myrrh on the same parts of the body where he was earlier anointed with oil. Holy Chrism is the seal of the gift of the Holy Sprit, which brands all baptized persons with a seal which sets them apart as inalienable possessions of Christ. That is, the Holy Spirit embraces them and envelopes them like a shield and an armor of faith to enable them to live the faith into which they have just been baptized. This is why Chrismation is also known as the Sacrament of the Holy Spirit.

The use of the Holy Chrism was introduced to the Christian Church from the existing Old Testament practice. It is stated that, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take the finest spices ?? 12 pounds of liquid myrrh, 6 pounds of sweet?smelling cinnamon, 6 pounds of sweet cane, and 12 pounds of cassia (all weighted according to official standard). Add one gallon of olive oil, and make a sacred anointing oil, mixed like perfume.”’ (Exodus 30:22?25)

The Holy Chrism is prepared from oil and another fragrant essences, which symbolize the variety of gifts of the Holy Spirit that the chrismated Christian receives. The most ancient list of materials and the aforementioned information “concerning the materials of the myrrh,” which are still used today, date from the eighth century C.E. This list includes the materials used for the preparation and making of the Holy Chrism. At the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, there is an official List of kinds of fragrances, from which the Holy Chrism is made, which includes 57 kinds of elements. The chrism which was used has been blessed by the Patriarch and a tiny remnant of it can be traced all the way back to apostolic times.

The anointing of the forehead signifies the sanctification of the mind, or thoughts.

The anointing of the chest signifies the sanctification of the heart, or desires.

The anointing of the eyes, ears, lips signifies the sanctification of the senses.

The anointing of the hands and feet signifies their sanctification to good works and the walk in the way of His commandments.

The Tonsure

Following the Baptism and Chrism, the Priest will tonsure the child by cutting some of his hair crosswise to signify: that Christ will be the head of the child from now on, that he will reject other allegiances, the first sacrifice from his body to God.

The Vesting
The Priest now blesses the child and places a white garment of righteousness on him. The child will leave to be dressed and the Priest will read additional prayers at this time. The child will return fully dressed and undergoes the ablution or symbolic washing away of the Myrrh and then receives the blessing of Christ. The Godparent will then take the child’s baptismal candle and will then be lead three times around the font. This is an act of rejoicing with the angels in heaven at the return of a lost sheep, and with the other Christians present at the addition of one more member to the flock of Christ.

The Candles
In the early church the baptismal candle was always kept by the one that was baptized. The baptismal candle was brought to church on feast days, on the anniversary of one’s baptism and at midnight Easter liturgy. If the person was to be wed, they would light the same candle at the wedding ceremony. If one was to be ordained they would light it at the ordination. When the final hour of life approached it was lit yet again as the soul went forth to meet its Judgment. It was a constant reminder for the Christian to live and die by the light of Christ.

The Readings
The readings follow from the Epistle of Paul to the Romans (6, 3-11) where Paul makes the comparison between the immersion and emersion with the burial and resurrection of Christ and from the Gospel according to St. Matthew (28, 16-20) where the Divine Institution of Baptism was established by our Lord.

The Eucharist
Immediately following the baptism the “newly enlightened” receives the precious Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and in the case of an infant, is brought to church regularly to receive the sacrament. The new life in Christ is renewed again and again with the Eucharist. As nature provides nourishment of the child after birth so God provides Holy Communion for the child’s spiritual life after baptism.

Many of you may have studied Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. For those who haven’t- here is a short summary (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Imagine prisoners who have been chained since their childhood deep inside a cave: not only are their arms and legs immovable because of chains; their heads are chained in one direction as well so that their gaze is fixed on a wall.

Behind the prisoners is an enormous fire, and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway, along which puppets of various animals, plants, and other things are moved. The puppets cast shadows on the wall, and the prisoners watch these shadows. Behind this cave there is a well-used road, and upon this road people are walking and talking and generally making noise, which echoes off of the wall. The prisoners, then, believe that these noises are coming directly from the shadows they are watching pass by on the cave wall.

The prisoners engage in what appears to us to be a game: naming the shapes as they come by. This, however, is the only reality that they know, even though they are seeing merely shadows of objects. They are thus conditioned to judge the quality of one another by their skill in quickly naming the shapes and dislike those who play poorly.

Suppose a prisoner’s chains break, and he is able to get up and walk about (a process which takes some time, as he has never done it before). Eventually he will be compelled to explore; he walks up and out of the cave, whereby he is instantly blinded by the sun. He turns then to the shadows on the floor, in the lakes, slowly working his way out of his deluded mind, and he is eventually able to glimpse the sun. In time, he would learn to see it as the object that provides the seasons and the courses of the year, presides over all things in the visible region, and is in some way the cause of all these things that he has seen.

(This part of the allegory, incidentally, closely relates to Plato’s metaphor of the sun which occurs near the end of The Republic, Book VI.)

Once enlightened, so to speak, the freed prisoner would not want to return to the cave to free his fellow prisoners, but would be compelled to do so. Another problem lies in the other prisoners not wanting to be freed: descending back into the cave would require that the freed prisoner’s eyes adjust again, and for a time, he would be one of the ones identifying shapes on the wall. His eyes would be swamped by the darkness, and would take time to become acclimated. He might stumble, Plato asserts, and the prisoners would conclude that his experience had ruined him. He would not be able to identify the shapes on the wall as well as the other prisoners, making it seem as if his being taken to the surface completely ruined his eyesight. (The Republic bk. VII, 516b-c; trans. Paul Shorey).

Would you say this applies to our current way of looking at education? Any other thoughts on what it applies to in our current society?

I can now confirm that on or about 19 Dec, 2007, we will be receiving a little package.

Yes, folks, we’re expecting.

We had our 12 wk ultrasound on Tuesday and all looks well. We were relieved to see only one baby as we had ‘a feeling’ that it might be twins! We can all breathe a sigh of relief now.

My pregnancy so far has been mostly ok. The morning sickness (read, all the time sickness) has started to go away and I am hopeful it might be GONE any day now. The only hiccup has been that my gestational diabetes has returned very early and I am already on insulin. So, I am not enjoying food very much right now. But hey…only 6 months to go. And of course, it’s a small price to pay and totally worth it for what you get at the end 🙂

We’re taking bets on whether it’s a boy or girl, although not sure if we will find out or let it be a surprise this time.

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